Each spring, Japan seems to exert a magnetic force on creative types. While you can find captivating glimpses from Clare Waight Keller’s recent visit on her Instagram feed, she’s also been going for two decades, which suggests dedication more than FOMO (fun fact: she has a small collection of vintage kimonos). As she tells it, the influence had been percolating on several levels—from the appeal of Japanese fabrics to the late Hubert de Givenchy’s own connection to the country.

But if the bicolored belt that cinched an angular column dress recalled a judo uniform obi, and the fantastical graphic motifs splashed across the men’s looks had a distinct manga flavor, her translations leaned more impressionistic than literal. Waight Keller is often strongest when she is most nuanced and she has a consistent track record of keeping her designs wearable. So even here, working in a more vivid and graphic register than what she proposed for years at Chloé, she’s covered a checklist of wardrobe items that are relatively risk-free while delivering at the luxury level. Slouched boots that slant from top to toe; a hoodie in satin chintz; blouses with ridged asymmetric front ruffles; and leather skirts hitting just below the knee—in each, there’s a trace of those aristocratic Givenchy codes that dovetail with her own British background. Note, too, the reworked retro flourishes—a zipper up the front of a stirrup pant to expose extra ankle, accentuated shoulders with funnel necks on tops, or else the way a sturdy white canvas jumpsuit is paired with a pleated bow blouse that spirals like a double helix. “There’s a powerful woman in there that I really love; she’s a very strong character who loves a strong shape—something that gives a real sense of fashion.”